Improvement in steam-engines



ilniell (guinea Leners Patent No. 111,93?, dated February 21, 1871.

IMPROVEMENT IN STEAM-ENGINES.

The Scheule :referrefi4 to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

I, JOHN HOULT, of Springtown, in the county of Bucks and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements inV SteaiwEngines, of which. the following is a specification.

Natura and Objects of the Invention.

My invention relates to the combination of a pluralty of low-pressure engines with a high-pressure cylinder, having a steam-dividing self-clearing jetcondenser and a superbeatcrbetween, in such amanner that the portion of steam which passes freely through the dividing-condenser 'will be made sufficient to operate the low-pressure engines; the object of my invention being to econoinize fuel inthe running cf steam-engines.

Description of the Aceonqianying Drawing.

Figure lisa vertical central section of a steamcylinder in communication with a self-clearing jetcondenser, hot well, and superheater.

Figure A.2 is substantially a duplicate of iig. 1;

Figure 3 is also substantially a duplicate of iig. 1, with the exception of the superheater.

Figure 4 is a modication of iig. 3, with the addition of an air-pump and superheater.

The superheatcr of Iig. l is intended to be connected with the steam-cylinder ot' g. 2, and the superheater of tig. 2 is intended' to be connected with the steam-cylinder of g. 3, the first puff lof its cxhaust steam either escaping at'the waste pipe, or entering the supcrheater of iig. 4, as will be explained.

General Description.

My present invention consists, substantially, 1n a combination of a series of the steam-cylinders, selfclearing jet-condensers, and superheaters of steam, described and set forth in the patents granted to me dated M ay 18, 1869, April 19,1870, and reissued May 31, 1870, J uly 19, 1870, and the application allowed July 16, 1870, with such modifications as the said hereinafter described combination rendered necessary and proper.

A B C represent respectively the iii-st, second, and third steam-cylinders;

i D E F, their respective self-clearing jet-condensers; and

G H, the respective superheaters of the steam coming from the cylinders A and B.

Although the mode of operation of the several steam-cylimflers-and self-clearing jet-condensers herein set forth have, substantially, been described in the specications of my reissued patent dated May 31, and application allowed July 16,1870, it is considered proper to again explain the operation in the present combination in View of the nal result.

The steam is supposed to enter A at,'say, fifty pounds pressure to the square inch above that of the atmosphere; to enter B at, say, .fifteen pounds pressure to the square inch above the atmosphere; and to enter C at, say, five pounds pressure to the square inch above the atmosphere; and on leaving the condenser F to escape into lthe external atmosphere through the escape-pipe I, sce'fig. 3; or to'enter the superheater H, to supply steam-cylinder G', at., say, one pound to thersquare inch either above or below the pressure of the atmosphere. The modification shown in fig. 4 is, substantially, an ordinary low-pressure engine arrangement, for the purpose of utilizing the exhaust steam, which, at or above the pressure ofthe atmosphere, wouidjotherwise escape through c the waste-pipe I of fig. 3.

'll-he water o l condensation hows into the respective hot wells d e' and f of rigs. l 2 3, and from thence into the respective reservoirs L, M, and N, and -froin the first-named. one, L, the steam-generator -may be supplied with a sufficiency of hot water.

The operation of the self-clearing' jet-condensers and superheaters, represented in figs. l and 2, will be precisely alike, and, therefore, an explanation of the operationof the one will serve as au explanation of the other. n

The operation of the valve d" divides the exhaust steam coming from the cylinder A into two portions, the' first portion passing freely down through the condenser D and thence into the supe-rheater G, from which the nextcylindcr B will be supplied `with steam at a reduced pressure; and the second portion, being arrested and condensed to produce the required vacuum before the piston, is afterward discharged with the water of lcondensation downl into the hot Well d', and from which it ilows by gravitation into the reser voir L.

lo' be more explicit,l suppose the piston of cylinder A, moving in its course upward, arrives at ovnear the upper end ot' the cylinder. Now, the exhaust-valve 1 and the jet-valve rZ" having juist been closed', and

the exhaust-valve 2 commencing to open, allow the high-pressure exhaust steam from beneath the piston of the cylinder to escape through the exhaust-valve 2 into the self-clearing jet-condenserD, and immediately on the said jet-condenser becoming suiciently lled ,with the exhaust steam to destroy the vacuum existing therein the valve l" thereof opens and a1- lows the contained 'water of condensation to drop down into the hot well d', and by the time the piston of the cylinder A arrives at o o, or near to the top ot' the upward stroke of the piston, the valves 2 andd will be fully opened, and thecondenser D will clean itself of all the condensing water and airl which may have accumulated therein from the previous condensation, and by thetimethe crank on the main shaft of the engine (not shown) has passed the dead-center,

. the remnant orrsecond portion of the exhaust steam,

and produces immediately the required vacuum before the piston, -and so on.- c

The superheater G is heated by the small furnace O, by which it is .supported and inclosed; and the pipe P, which conducts the steam fromthe condenser D into the superheater G, has its outlet end 'curved obliquely downward and laterally, so as to discharge the steam spirally downward into the superheater, and thus favor the required general distribution there. in of the steam tobe superheated.

. The Pipe P is also provided with safety-valves Q and It, to prevent the possibility of an explosion or collapse ot' the superheater. i

The superheater G connects, by the pipe S, di-

rectlyvvwith the ,supply-valves of lthe steam-cylinder B, and the Isuperheater H connects, by a pipe, T, directly with the supply-valves of the steam-cylinder- O, and the first or main portionof the exhaust steam fromthe cylinder G escapes into theopen air-through the waste-pipe I.

' A hot-air valve, It', is attached to a pipe, which, at one end,commu icates with the interior o f the second superheater H, while thev other cud (not shov'm) is intended to extend spirally upward through the. chimney of the furnace of the superheater G, or any other furnacechimney, whereby it may be kept hot, and to connect with au air-forcing pump, in' such a manner that the super-heater H may, by the hot air, 'be kepty sufficiently heated without its special furnace, if desired to further economi'ze in"fue1.

It is estimated; that, if the cylinder A works at fty pounds high-pressure, the pressure in' B will he about fifteen' pounds, the pressure in() live pounds, and the pressure'4 at the waste-pipe' I onel pound or lessb f ser in the same manner as in the ordinary low-pressof steam which otherwise Awill escape-through the waste-pipe I of fig. 3.l v

-It will be understood, without `further description or explanatiomthat the combination described and set forth will, in view of the amount of work derivable keep the same in motion. l

be dispensed with, for the sakev of economy, by enlargingthe superheater G of iig. v1, lso as to render it pose hereinbeforje set forth and described; f JOHN HOU-IPT.

Witnesses z l BENJ. Monson, t XVM. H. MomsoN. A.

pump takes the place of the superheater and produces an exhaust of the air and water' inthe condeuure engine, and thus renders availabierthe remnant therefrom, greatly eeonomize the fuel required to As a vmodification of the` low-pressure engginemf showuin gs. 2-and 4, the superheaters therein may capable of allowing` a suicieut expansion 'ofv its con-4 operating together, substantially as and for the -pur- 

